135 



sparsely clothed with brown hairs. The head is broad, the ovipositor of 

 normal shape, and the last segment of the maxillary palpus is twice the 

 length of the one preceding it, whereas in the species of Gryllus the two 

 segments are of equal length. Three species of Xemobius occur in Indi- 

 ana. 



7. Xemobius vittatus, Harris. The Wingless Striped Cricket. 

 Acheta vittata, Harris, Ins. Inj. to Veg., 1862, 152, fig. 70. 

 Rathvon, U. S. Agr. Rep., 18G2, .380, fig. Ki. 



Nemobius vittatus, Scudder, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist., VII, 1802, 430. 



Id. Dist. of Ins. N. H., 1874, 364, (Chirp set to music). 



Thomas, Trans. 111. Sfc. Ag. Soc, V, 1865, 443. 



Scudder, Am. Naturalist, II, 1868, 115, (Song of). 



Packard, Guide Stud. Ins., 1883, 564. 



Fernald, Orth. N. Eng., 1888, Ki. 



Comstock, Int. to Ent., I, 1888, 121. 

 In both sexes of this, our most abundant species, the inner wings are 

 wholly wanting. In the female the wing covers are dark brown, about half 

 the length of the abdomen, and have many rather coarse, whitish, parallel 

 veins; whereas in the male they are light brown, reach to the end of the 

 abdomen and have but few reticulated veins. There are usually three nar- 

 row, blackish lines on top of the head and one along each side of the pro- 

 thorax, but all of these are sometimes very dim or wholly wanting. 



These small crickets are omnivorous, feeding upon all kinds of decaying 

 animal matter as well as upon living vegetation, freshly dropped cow dung 

 being also especially attractive to them. When disturbed they are very diffi- 

 cult to capture, making enormous leaps with their stout hind legs, no sooner 

 striking the ground than they are up again, even if not pursued, until they 

 find a leaf or other shelter beneath which to take refuge. 



From their enormous numbers, as well as from the fact that they are con- 

 stant, greedy feeders from the time the eggs hatch in spring until laid low 

 by the hoar frost of autumn, it follows that they must be classed among our 

 most injurious orthoptera, but as yet no effective means for their destruc- 

 tion have been discovered. 



Mr. S, H. Scudder, in an article entitled the "Songs of the Grasshoppers," 

 has given the following pleasing account of the sounds made by this species : 

 "The chirping of the striped cricket is very similar to that of the black field 

 cricket; and may be expressed by r-r-r-u, pronounced as though it were a 



